ARTIST: KT Tunstall
TITLE: Eye to the Telescope
YEAR RELEASED: 2004
CHART ACTION: #33 US, #9 US Rock, #3 UK
SINGLES: Black Horse and the Cherry Tree (#20 US, #28 UK), Other Side of the World (#13 UK), Suddenly I See (#21 US, #12 UK), Another Place to Fall (#52 UK), Under the Weather (#39 UK)
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Maybe if you own it.
LINEUP: KT Tunstall, Steve Osborne, Arnulf Lindner, Luke Bullen, Ian Burdge
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Debut album from Scottish singer / songwriter is pleasant and somewhat interesting without being too radical.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: KT Tunstall’s strength is in creating memorable hooks in her pop / rock songs, and when she succeeds the result is quite memorable. I’m sure most everyone can hum or sing along to “Suddenly I See” now, even if you don’t know she’s the one that recorded it.
The two big US hits are the standouts, as well as “Another Place to Fall”, which has a neat arrangement and Tunstall’s voice is perfect in the song. A few of the rest definitely fall into ‘filler’ as they’re not as memorable or as enthusiastically performed. But on a track like “Minature Disasters”, the lack of airplay doesn’t mean a mediocre song.
Tunstall’s debut has a lot of promise, and it’s good to sing to or chill to. That ain’t half bad.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: It rose and fell quickly in the UK charts, but when the singles started to gain traction, and it was nominated for a Mercury Prize, it became a best seller. It wasn’t released in the US until 2006, though.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No
GRADE: B+: A good debut that deserves its popularity.